The Falco is shipped stock with Showa USD (upside-down) cartridge forks. The spring rate is quite stiff for a street bike, at 1.0 kg/mm (straight rate). Most people will have to turn the preload adjusters all the way out to get even close to 35 mm rider sag (a good starting point for modern sportbikes). Under those conditions, the Falco will only have about 15 mm static sag, and gurus say a value close to 60% of rider sag, or 20 mm indicates you're in the ballpark for the right spring rate. For a race bike, less than 20 mm static sag would suggest a marginally stiff spring rate. For road use, traction (and comfort) will benefit from reducing the spring rate further.
From magazine test articles, I estimate the weight of the Falco with aftermarket cans at 475 lbs. Don't forget to add your rider weight with gear before using the graphs above.
I went conservative and chose .95 kg/mm springs, only a 5 percent reduction in stock spring rate. Just to try a different vendor, I went with Traxxion Dynamics springs. I've used Race Tech's in the past, and both appear to be similar products (shot-peened, heat-treated, pre-set, chrome silicon, guaranteed rate, etc, etc). Although there is one notable difference: the Race Tech springs for the Falco are reportedly tapered and small enough in inside diameter that you will have to remove a plastic locating spacer from the damping rod to install them (this requires removing the cartridge). The Traxxion springs are very similar to the stock springs and do not require this additional step. I should also note that both Traxxion and Race Tech market straight rate springs (like the OEM springs in this bike). If progressive rate springs are preferable, try Hyperpro.
Before starting, you'll need a few parts on hand. First is fork fluid. I strongly recommend you don't go any higher than 5 Wt. fork oil with the stock valving. Honda markets Showa oil in 475 ml bottles. You'll need one bottle per fork leg. If your fork seals are leaking, or you suspect your bushings are worn, this is a perfect time to replace them. But pulling the seals is not required to replace fork springs, so I chose not to replace my seals at this time. Also, you'll most likely want to alter the length of your preload spacers unless you happen to get new springs of the exact same free length as the old springs. Race-tech usually supplies spacer material. Traxxion did not, and their springs are shorter than stock so you couldn't cut down the original spacers. Spacers can be made from thin-walled aluminum tubing, or even 1-inch PVC water pipe.
IMPORTANT: You may also want to rig up a few tools to make this job easier. Read this procedure fully to see what is required before deciding if you want to attempt this job without the special tools.
Continue to the fork removal procedure.
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